"I wait for him, the cold seeping through my clothes, until it finally dawns on me that he's not coming back. And I wonder why he chose her instead of me? Why he went looking for her when I was right there."
Tai and Juliet have been best friends forever – since they met at kindy and decided to get married in first grade.
They understand each other in the way that only best friends can.
They love music, beach walks, energy drinks and, they are slowly discovering, each other.
As they dream of adventures beyond the HSC – a future free of homework, curfews and parents, a life together – their plans are suddenly and dramatically derailed.
For Tai is sick.
And not everything you wish for can come true.
A poignant story of first love, hope, grief, family, and the twistedness of life.
My Thoughts.
Where have you been hiding Jessica Davidson? This is such an emotionally draining book, after finishing it I couldn't stop thinking about it, I suggest a box full of tissues and a place where you can bawl your eyes out alone!
Which to me is the sign of a fantastic storyteller.
This is the most depressingly, wonderful book I've ever read, it sent me on a roller-coaster of emotions, it was heartbreaking and sent me barreling towards the inevitable ending that you knew would happen but at the same time hoped it wouldn't.
The last half of this book had me in tears and I had to escape to the solitude of my room, because this book is so overwhelming, I just wanted to sit and reflect on the brilliance of this novel, I felt like I'd lost a friend once it was over.
Juliet and Tai have been best friends since the first day of Kindergarten, now that they are both in Year Twelve they have finally admitted their feelings for each other, and after finally becoming a couple Tai finds out that he is dying from a brain tumor with only a year left to live.
Told in alternating perspectives we get both sides, Tai having to deal with the fact that he won't get to do all of the things that he dreamed of doing after high school and Juliet who's faced with reality that she will lose her boyfriend and best friend.
And with Tai faced with the decisions on whether he wants to die at home or a hospital, or if he wants to be buried or cremated just made this so hard to get through without a steady stream of tears running down my face, and having him sit by and watch everybody else's lives carrying on around him knowing he won't get to do any of those things is heartbreaking.
Amidst all the tragedy is a fantastic book which everybody needs to read, this is real life, it's not going to end with a couple looking forward to their future together, but instead how a girl is having to carry on without the person she expected to spend her life with.
One of my favourite contemporary's of all time, I'm so glad I read this book.
Q: What drove you to start book blogging in the first place?
I used to visit all these different blogs and one day I thought you know what, I love reading why don't I start a blog of my own. Another reason was that no-one else in my house really reads so I don't really have anybody to talk to when I find something really exciting that's book related.
Expected publication: July 6th 2012 by Musa Publishing
There are worse things than death, worse people too
The “talk” was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they’re a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn’t until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.
My Thoughts.
I cannot put into words how much I loved this book, I never wanted it to end, I loved everything about it, I struggled to put it down, what Bevis has written is one of my favourite books of the year!
I've never read a book before based around the Hades and Persephone myth and I couldn't have picked a better book to start me off, I will definitely be seeking out the sequel to this, I had an inkling when I was getting towards the end that this is part of a series but a little part of me was hoping it wasn't because I don't have the patience to wait to see what will happen next.
"Persephone..."
And just that one word started my journey into this fantastic world that Bevis has created, Persephone is sixteen still at school and works with her Mother in her flower shop, lately Persephone has had the feeling that someone is watching her.
I could feel someone watching me. Eyes boring a hole in the back of my neck, crawling over my skin. The hushed sounds of my classmates did little to make me feel safe.
One afternoon while working in the shop a man comes in saying strange things and after grabbing her and scaring her he runs off, she tells her Mother and it's then that her Mum informs her that Persephone is a goddess as she also is, her Mum is in fact Demeter and her father is Zeus, thinking that her Mum is crazy she drives to her best friend Melissa's house where she confirms the story and tells her that she was born to be Persephone's priestess, upset she drives off to her favourite park and it's there she's attacked by somebody with the ability to harness ice and traps her until she is saved by four people on horseback, and finds that the guy who is helping her is in fact Hades.
Hades? I struggled harder against the heaviness of my eyes. The Hades? Lord of the Underworld, Hades?
After the stranger kisses her she wakes up in the Underworld, where she finds Hades in a conversation with her Mother in a hologram.
'You're in the Underworld." Mom's voice was gentle. "But you're not dead. Hades has made it possible for you to travel between planes"
"When I breathed my essence into you - It also marked you as my bride."
And so Persephone finds herself married to Hades and also Queen of the Underworld, and so to keep her safe from Boreas (the god that tried to kill her) she is to stay in the Underworld until the spring equinox when it will be safe for her to venture into the world above.
I loved the interaction between Persephone and Hades, I was just cheering them on until they'd both admit their feelings for one another.
"So..." I turned to Moirae, who glared daggers at me, and quickly turned back to Hades. "Uh, what did you today?' He looked surprised by the question. "It's barely been an hour since I last saw you." "It's called small talk," I snapped. "You should try it some time."
I can't count the amount of times I laughed throughout some of the dialogue in this book, most of the funniest dialogue was saved for Persephone and Hades which I loved and was perfect for their characters and their love/hate relationship.
"You look nice tonight." Surprise flitted across Hades' face. "Thank you. You look lovely as well." "I always kind of figured you'd be ugly."
I could go on and on adding quotes but I want everyone to experience this superb story and writing themselves.
Everyone needs to check this book out, I can't rave enough about it, Bevis is definitely a new talent to keep an eye out for,
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.
But when Noah Hutchins--the smoking hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket--explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.
Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
My Thoughts.
One of the best author debuts I've ever read, Katie McGarry is sure to be the next big thing in YA!
It's hard to describe just how much I loved this book, I was constantly thinking about it whilst I wasn't reading it, and when I was I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
It's the sign of an amazing writer when all you want to do is eat, breathe and sleep in this story which was both heartbreaking and intense, I loved the chemistry between Echo and Noah, they were perfect for each other and their struggle to find themselves and to fight for their love for each other just makes them one of my all time favourite YA couples.
The build up we get with Echo trying to regain her memories of that day that she has blocked from her mind, was a great suspense and I loved trying to figure out what had happened, and I never could have guessed what it was in a million years it was tragic, and I can understand why she didn't want to remember and why her brain shut down such a traumatic memory.
As for Noah well besides the fact that he's hot, the way that he cares for his two brothers was so sweet and he too had a tragic story which gave both of them a lot in common, these two damaged souls found solace in each other, and each found someone who could understand what had happened to the other.
What also made this book amazing was the alternating chapters, I loved that we could know what each other was thinking and could find out back stories to them both, the memories they both had of happier times back before their world's got torn apart.
The supporting characters in this book were really great Isaiah and Beth who were also battling their own demons and Mrs Collins, Echo and Noah's counselor and the reason for them officially meeting, if only all counselor's were as sweet and helpful as she was.
There was absolutely nothing I could find fault with in this book, I strongly urge everybody to pick this book up, clear some time because you'll definitely never want to put this book down.
From the bestselling author of Blue Bloods, comes a series that will reinvent the myth of the werewolf in the same way that Blue Bloods did with vampires—with style and NYC flair!
Lawson and his brothers escaped from the underworld and now lead desperate, dangerous lives. They’re pursued by the Hounds of Hell from one town to the next, never calling any place home. But when the hounds finally catch up with them and capture the girl Lawson loves, the hunters become the hunted. Lawson will stop at nothing to track down the hounds, even if the chances of saving Tala are slim...
The only hope he has lies in Bliss Llewellyn. Bliss, too, has lost someone to the beasts and will do anything to get them back—even if it means joining forces with the insolent, dangerously good-looking boy with a wolf’s soul.
Expected publication: December 24th 2012 by Bloomsbury/Walker Books for Young Readers
Curtains up on a deliciously dark new YA trilogy from the creators of Lauren Kate’s Fallen.
Vanessa Adler isn’t so sure she really belongs at the School of American Ballet. But dance runs in her family. It’s been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. Her grandmother and mother were prima ballerinas, and her older sister Margaret was, too. That is, until Margaret mysteriously disappeared from school three years ago. Vanessa is heir to the family’s gift and the only person who can fulfill her sister’s destiny. She has no choice.
But she never could have guessed how dangerous the school is. The infamous choreographer, Josef, isn’t just ruthless with his pupils, he guards a sinister secret, one in which the school’s dancers—prized for their beauty, grace, and discipline—become pawns in a world of dark, deadly demons.
Expected publication: March 19th 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books
Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scout camping trip.
Now she’s returned home…only to find that it’s three years later and she’s sixteen—or at least that’s what everyone tells her.
What happened to the last three years of her life?
Angie herself doesn’t know.
But there are people who do—people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren’t locked inside her mind.
With a tremendous amount of courage and support from unexpected friends, Angie embarks on a journey into the darkest corners of her mind. As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: when you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the people responsible, or is there another way to feel whole again?
Liz Coley’s alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing—and ultimately empowering—page turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.
Expected publication: March 5th 2013 by Simon Pulse
After her older sister dies from an apparent suicide and her body is found hanging upside down by one toe from a tree, sixteen-year-old Sophie starts to hear the same voices that drove her sister to a psychotic break.
Expected publication: January 8th 2013 by Harper Teen
Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us.
Nick, Kevin, and Cass have spent their whole lives in a community in the wilderness, hiding out from the robots that have enslaved mankind. But when the bots discover their location, they barely make it out alive — only to discover that their home has been destroyed and everyone killed or captured. Now, the siblings must risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world.
Expected publication: February 5th 2013 by Walker Childrens
Mallory's life is falling apart. Her boyfriend was stabbed. He bled to death in her kitchen. Mallory was the one who stabbed him. But she can't remember what happened that night. She only remembers the fear . . .
When Mallory's parents send her away to a boarding school, she thinks she can escape the gossip and the threats. But someone, or something, has followed her. There's the hand that touches her shoulder when she's drifting off to sleep. A voice whispering her name. And everyone knows what happened. So when a pupil is found dead, Mallory's name is on their lips. Her past can be forgotten but it's never gone. Can Mallory live with that?
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